By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

INTERNATIONAL arrivals to The Bahamas grew 10.2 percent year-to-date, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation (MOTA) yesterday.

The ministry expects tourism growth to continue as bookings are up 6.7 percent over the August to October period and show a ten percent increase for the final two months of 2018.

"International arrivals in The Bahamas show a solid growth of 10.2 percent year-to-date, maintaining the tourism turnaround that began in October of 2017. The growth trend is driven by strong performance from the US but a 29.6 percent increase through July in arrivals from Canada is also contributing to the overall growth," said a MOTA statement.

MOTA said it has restarted "robust marketing and communications effort"s in North America, by telling the county's travel story to consumers, by bringing travel journalists and digital influencers to the country and also by using strategic content and digital amplification to reach travel decision makers.

"We have seen very good news and gratifying results across major Bahamian tourism sectors in recent months and are very encouraged," said Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D'Aguilar.

"Using our new tracking tools, we have seen double-digit increases in international arrivals and strong business on the books for future months. Lynden Pindling International Airport has reported historic arrival numbers for the country's premier airport facility.

"Browse Nassau hotels on TripAdvisor for this coming weekend and you may see that most of the hotels are projected to sell out soon and we are seeing very strong occupancy rates. These outcomes are validation of the sales, marketing and communications work we have been doing."

According to the MOTA, a communications programme is underway for the 2018-19 fiscal year as writers and influencers from the US will arrive within days to kick-off a new cycle of Bahamas storytelling.

"Writers from major publications including Good Housekeeping, Essence and Red Tricycle will visit The Abacos next week to capture the island-hopping and family travel options there," said MOTA.

"Grand Bahama Island will host a select group of influencers for an itinerary specially curated to develop visual stories to showcase the water, beaches and local heritage of the island for important platforms like Instagram.

"Development of a late fall trip to Cat Island is underway, along with ongoing outreach to media to promote fall travel offers and events and to support several new American Airlines flights into the destination."

MOTA said it is also deploying advertising across a variety of broadcast, digital and out-of-home channels in key markets, raising awareness of the destination. An ambitious content marketing programme complements this traditional advertising with the goal of inspiring consumers to explore more islands across the country.